Go Team!

I am very happy to announce that I have been selected as a Design Team Member for Sakura Craft!  Sakura has such versatile products, I am really looking forward to seeing how it will stretch my creativity, and I'm excited to see what the other talented ladies on the design team do with them as well!  2 of them, Karen and Heather, I have designed with before so I am excited to see what they come up with and getting to know all of the other ladies' styles too.
I just love sharing ideas like this, and having an obligation to be creative.  When it's just stuff for my own scrapbook I am less motivated, but gifts and Design Team challenges really gets my creative juices flowing!


So check out Sakura Craft and keep your eyes peeled for fun samples from me.  I look forward to your comments and input, and sharing more creativity!


-Chelsea

Vintage Valentine Ornaments

...Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or Bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

-- William Shakespeare

These are some fun Vintage Valentine Rosettes I made for a design team trial for Sakura Hobby and Craft. Hang them on a present, bouquet or a door. Lots of fun and a neat way to mix and match scrap you have laying around.

The first thing I did was cut out some vintage images I had lying around, you can also print some free ones off the internet from a website like Graphics Fairy.

Next I covered them with Crystal Lacquer to give them an enamel look. The first image I covered completely, the second I just did her bows ribbons and shoes, and the bows on the kitties. (this top photo really shows the glossyness and dimention of the Crystal Lacquer. Then I set them aside to dry while I prepared everything else.

To make the rosettes, I used regular old party streamer style crepe paper. Scrapbook stores sell some fancier kinds, you can also accordion fold paper if you like. I had found this light pink roll lying around from some birthday or other, so it had a fun weathered, antique look to it, which I furthered with some Glimmer Mist, or whatever similar product makes you happy. This first one I used a light, iridescent shell color, the second was a darker pink pigment. Do all the distressing after you make the rosette, to give it more texture and dimension.

Making the Rosettes is simple, take about 2 yards of crepe paper ( I just roll it out the length of both my arms stretched out in a T and tear) Fold in half, take a needle and thread and do a running stitch up one side of the folded crepe about 1/4" in from the edge. Pull the strings to gather it as tight as you can, so it forms itself into a pleated sort of circle, tie the thread ends together and trim, voila!
While those all dried, I cut the heard and word ADORE out of scraps I had using the Cricut and I added dots of Crystal Color Lacquer in blue to the word ADORE. Once everything was dry, I used the Crystal Lacquer as an adhesive and glued down the heart, the word ADORE and pop dots for the Valentine Image.

For the second one, I added dots to a scallop circle cut from phone book paper with the Crystal Color Lacquer in blue, and traced the oval of the word SWEET from a set of words, in the blue as well. I also cut a flower shape from on the Cricut using scrap. Once everything was dry I adhered it using Crystal Lacquer, the Scallop Circle, then the flower then the little girl with the kittens, the word SWEET, and the buttons. The pink button/brad I stuck on with a pop dot to give dimension.

For both, I attached the ribbon loop on the back and over that I adhered a 2' square of cardstock, just to give it a good base in the back, and cover the ribbon ends. I used the Crystal Lacquer as adhesive because it's strong, and flexible and gives this dimensional project a little more stability.

For more project ideas using Crystal Lacquer or for Sakura Craft products Check out these links!

Steampunk Love

Beauty is in the heart of the beholder.

~H.G. Wells

I made these clay hearts in a class at CHA, I thought they were terribly fun for anyone who finds Steampunk as whimsical and inspiring as I do.

Seemed appropriate for Valentine's Day. I am not a huge fan of VDay, but I do adore the Victorian style Valentines. So I use today as an excuse to luxuriate in that.

Daydreamer Steampunk/Neauveau Album

This is possibly the coolest album I have ever made! If I do say so myself. I am a huge Alphonse Mucha and Art Neauveau fanatic! Steampunk is new on my radar of passions in the last couple years. So this album was so much fun, and something I HAD to make!

I may not list all the materials because the list is epic!! The paper flowers are all glimmer misted from white, with stickles added, the flowers you can find in Downtown LA some companies are starting

To carry things like that.

The paper line I used was Steampunk Debutante from Graphic 45, and the Peacock transparencies by Hambly in Teal. The cover of the book is Chipboard, and the pages are various tags from American Tag. Stickers from 7Gypsies G is for Gypsy.

The knob on the cover is also 7Gypsies. The ribbons are all kinds of different things, the lace I think is Maya Road.

I used so many Glimmer Mists, I have no idea what I used. The butterfly stamps are all from Layers of Color, stamped in as many Distress Ink colors as I could match to the palate. I distressed the heck out of the page edges, which I do whenever I possibly can. Oh and I used mosaic stickers, I can't remember which company that is, they do rhinestones and they have these cool tile like mosaic squares which I think are totally underrated.I hope you find it inspiring. The photos don't do it justice.

Retro Housewife Acrylic Album

So this fun little album I made from Acrylic. My boyfriend and I have really gotten into cooking lately, so that was the inspiration. I did another similar but for cooking recipes that I can't seem to locate, I'll post photos if that one turns up.

(I accucut the 12x12 acrylic and cut that in quarters) The acrylic shape is hard to make out in the photo. I used Cosmo Cricket papers and Crafty Secrets Domestic Goddess images and sayings. Oh and Hambly Screenprints stransparencies with dressforms in black. This was a fun one. I recommend Zipdry or Crystal Lacquer for the adhesive on the acrylic.

Beach Album

This is an Album I designed with my mom and her zany, fabulous friends in mind. They get together at one of their beachfront homes several times a year and have a delicious time.

In this album I used chipboard for the covers and Navy Blue cardstock for the pages, as well as postcard tags, and coin tags from American Tags, who I love! What else... Webster's Pages: Far and Away, and Graphic 45: On the Boardwalk, 7Gypsies Journey Stickers, and for the shapes I used the Life's a Beach Cricut Cartridge shapes.

I used Glimmer mist in Caribbean, Crushed Shells and Coral Reef (if you can still find those, good luck!) and the rubber stamps that go so well with the G45, was a set by Tweety Jill, who make great stamp sets.

Oh and I made the rosette on the front from Crepe paper, and Glimmer Misted the Heck out of it!